Facebook and Insta charge €12.99 a month to go ad-free
ADRIAN WECKLER
Facebook and Instagram have begun charging Irish and European users
€12.99 per month for access to their services as an alternative to
seeing ads on the platforms. Under the new system, it will cost €12.99
per month for all accounts until March of next year, when it will rise
to €12.99 for one account and €8 for every subsequent account.
It means that someone with a Facebook and an Instagram account will pay
€20.99 per month, or €251.88 per year.
In exchange for paying the subscription, users will not see any ads on
their feeds.
A free version will remain available, but users will have to give their
consent to Facebook and Instagram to use their personal data as a basis
for showing them ads.
The ad-free subscription does not include a ban on ad-supported content
from influencers, however. A cheaper tariff can be accessed for €9.99
per month, and €6 per month for additional accounts, if the signup
process is done on the web, rather than within the smartphone app.
The difference in the price is accounted for by the 30pc charge that
Apple and Google place on subscriptions enacted within apps downloaded
from their app stores.
The system is being introduced after European regulatory authorities,
including the Irish Data Protection Commissioner, European
Court of Justice and the European Data Protection Board ruled that
Facebook and Instagram could no longer continue to rely on users'
personal data for ads without more explicit consent.
In response Facebook and Instagram owner Meta, whose chief executive is
Mark Zuckerberg, said it would demand either explicit consent for ads
based on personal data or a paid monthly subscription.
The system is specific to Europe, where data laws are stricter than in
the US and other regions.
To avoid paying the subscription fee, Facebook and Instagram users must
consent to the company's use of their personal information as the basis
of the data they see.
Irish Independent Technology
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